Comfort Food ? Motherhood is Not for Wimps

This phrase ?comfort food? confuses me. Is there any food that isn?t comfort food?

Okay, maybe salad.

No, even salad. ?Cold and crisp, and washed and chopped and beautifully arranged with crispies and chewys and creamies and nice hit of tang. And it?s healthy! ? That is comforting.

Oh! ?And what about salad with hot rice? ?And maybe a little seared fish? ?? Very comfort-food.

Pizza is comfort food if it?s fired in a wood-burning stove with fresh dough and crushed tomatoes and hand-torn basil ? or maybe none of that, just?prosciutto with balsamic reduction and a pile of arugula on top just as it comes out of the fire. ?Very comfort, especially if you get to sit in front of the fire.

But pizza out of a greasy box? ?Not so much.

Although, actually, come to think of it, there was that night after Cute Husband?s law school graduation when we were poor and giddy and greasy-box pizza was all we could afford, in the dark living room at the House, with cold cheap beer.

That was comfort.

I?m sure lots of people wouldn?t find huevos rancheros and hot coffee for breakfast ?comfort? but it?s tops A-one on my list.

Maybe when people say ?comfort? what they mean is ?home.?

The food your mother made you.

It is an unlikely combination, this, my most favorite of comfort foods. ?I think she ? the girls? Gran ? got the recipe out of one of those grocery-store check-out line cookbooks ? the thin little ones with glossy pictures and product names for every single ingredient.

The first time I made this was for a Home Ec assignment: cook from scratch a family favorite meal. It was a good choice -- I learned to properly cook boneless, skinless chicken breast.

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Saute until outside is crisp and golden. Finish in the oven until juicy and soft.

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I also learned by this recipe how to make a simple pan sauce -- easiest thing in the world. Don't let the crispy chicken/floury stuff burn, or everything will taste really bad. But while it's hot and popping, add chopped green onions (white parts, little of the green) and ...

... chopped ginger. Over the years I've tried it all kinds of ways, and I like it peeled and chopped, the best. Cook until it's soft and thinking about caramelizing. Then ...

... broth. I think the original recipe called for wine (who remembers, I haven't seen that battered and spattered scrap of glossy magazine page in 20 years, probably.) I've never used wine. Just good quality stock.

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Reduce, add more stock if you need. Scrape the bottom and sides. Simmer, waft, breathe it in. And then add ...

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... mustard. (No, really. Any brand? you like. -- I pick a nice coarse-ground whatever.) Simmer sauce until reduced and glossy. Then take the chicken out of the oven and add it back with all the pan drippings and toss to coat. It is the most unlikely of flavors -- tangy and spicy, sweet and savory. Maybe I love it because it is the first meal I ever made. Maybe I love it because it is the flavors of Home.

(Before you started, you sliced up some potatoes, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted a good 45 minutes, or so, until brown and crispy outside, soft inside. You ran off some steamy crisp broccoli, too, topped with butter, salt, pepper, a little lemon just before serving.) Comfort.

Gran?s Ginger Mustard Chicken

1 package boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into long pieces

1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons peeled chopped ginger

2 tablespoons chopped green onion (whites and first part of green only)

1 cup chicken broth (estimate, maybe more)

1-2 tablespoons coarse mustard

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1) ?Heat large saute pan over medium heat. ?Dip the chicken pieces first in milk, and then in seasoned flour. ? Add oil to pan, then chicken pieces. ?Cook until golden on one side, flip and cook on the other side, then transfer to pan and into oven.

2) ?Add onions and ginger to pan, stir to cook. ?When they are soft, add chicken broth, and stir and scrape the pieces off the bottom of the pan (deglazing). ?Simmer to thicken.

3) ?Add a large squeeze-or-two of mustard. ?Stir and simmer sauce until it is thick and glossy (about ten minutes, total). ?Add chicken back. ?Serve over roasted potatoes.

Source: http://damomma.com/2011/04/19/comfort-food

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